Zeraora Guide: Builds and Moves | Pokemon UNITE

This is a guide on how to play Zeraora in Pokemon UNITE. Learn about all of Zeraora's moves and skins, how to get Zeraora, and how to use Zeraora with our builds complete with best movesets, items, and combos, as well as matchups, and what counters to use against them.

Zeraora Tier Rating and Stats

Zeraora Basic Information

Zeraora	Tier:	Role:
		Speedster
	Attack Type:	Difficulty:
	Melee	Expert
	Damage Type:
	Physical
"Zeraora can close the distance between itself and its opponents as fast as lightning, dealing massive amounts of damage all at once."

Tier List: Best Pokemon to Use

Zeraora Stats

Offense	Defense	Mobility	Scoring	Support

Zeraora Evolutions

Zeraora This Pokémon does not evolve.

Zeraora Strengths and Weaknesses

High mobility and damage

Zeraora's mobility is absurd to the point that getting away from him is near impossible. He has tons of ability that can allow him to weave in and out of fights and an ability that allows him to be untargetable while dishing out damage.

Needs to scale to mid-game

Zeraora needs a decent amount of levels first to become useful. He's decent at low levels but he lacks the mobility at this stage of the game to land his skills on his desired targets.

Best Lanes for Zeraora

Top
Jungle
Bottom

Jungle is the best lane for Zeraora

As previously mentioned above, Zeraora needs to scale with level to be useful, particularly 6 and 8. After an initial clear in the jungle, he can easily reach level 4 and a gank plus another clear easily puts him into level 6 where he can start dishing out damage against the enemy team.

Zeraora Builds

Assassin

This build focuses on quickly defeating foes by entering the lane, taking them out, and leaving as soon as they're defeated.

Moves and Upgrades

Lv. 1 (ZR)	Lv. 3 (R)	Lv. 6 (R)	Lv. 8 (ZR)
Slash	Agility	Volt Switch	Wild Charge
Slash should be acquired first as it allows you to defeat wild Pokemon and level up quicker, and Agility can be useful later on when you start ganking, for initiation. Next, Volt Switch is a good choice because it allows you to quickly enter lanes and fall back after bursting an opponent. Wild Charge is a burst of damage that you should use to quickly defeat enemies when you enter the lane.

Teamfight

This build focuses on defeating bundled up groups of enemies at once with Discharge and moving around with Spark. Once lanes are clear, it should be open to score.

Moves and Upgrades

Lv. 1 (ZR)	Lv. 3 (R)	Lv. 6 (R)	Lv. 8 (ZR)
Slash	Agility	Spark	Discharge
Slash should be acquired first as it allows you to defeat wild Pokemon and level up quicker, and Agility can be useful later on when you start ganking, for initiation. Your next move should be Spark to allow you to quickly jump into fights and jump out, and you can finally get Discharge to deal a good amount of area of effect damage while jumping between enemies.

Battle Item

Item	Tips
Fluffy Tail	Fluffy Tail is a very essential item for pokemon on the Central Role. It gives you a healthier clear and it also allows you to take Rotom/Dreadmaw with ease.

Held Items

Items	Tips
Attack Weight	As a speedster, you easily have the mobility and damage to kill camps and take those scores to the goal. Abuse the stat gains you can get from Attack Weight as much as you can to be more effective in fights later on.
Muscle Band	Muscle Band is a great item for Zeraora as it improves his attack speed and damage to clear the jungle faster. It also improves his damage when attempting to kill an enemy.
Score Shield	A faster movement speed means you can roam around the map way faster. The shield is a nice touch and it also allows you to sneak in scores during fights inside enemy goals if you have small amounts of points.

How to Play Zeraora

Zeraora is a strong duelist with insane mobility. As Zeraora, your main role should be the jungle as his whole kit emphasizes fast camp clear and his mobility skill also allows him to quickly jump from camps to camps making your jungle clear faster than other Pokemon.

After the early game (lvl 6+), your dueling power skyrockets so you should focus on looking for skirmishes and battles as soon as you hit this power spike.

Adjust Your Skill Path According To Enemy Composition

Zeraora has two playstyles that can completely change the way you'll approach teamfights. Evaluate the enemy composition first at the start of the game to know the best skill path to take.

Focus on Farming Until Level 6 and 8

Zeraora's power spikes are massive from level 6 and 8. He gains extreme mobility from Volt Switch or Spark and damage from Wild Charge or Discharge. Try to aim for these power spikes before fighting for objectives and joining teamfights.

Gank When Enemies are Overextended or are Low HP

Zeraora's power spikes are massive but this does not mean that he's a weak pokemon early game by any chance. Slash is a strong single target burst and you're likely stronger than laners due to your solo EXP in the central area. Jump in with Agility and quickly follow it up with Slash for a quick burst and possibly a kill.

Alternatively, Fight for Objectives

Another good thing to look out for are objectives. As a jungle player, you should have access to Fluffy Tail which makes taking objectives like Rotom and Drednaw much easier. If your team is on the defensive, getting Drednaw is a great option as it strengthens your team by giving them shield and levels or push your advantage if your team is ahead by taking Rotom. Play according to the team's situation!

Take Advantage of Damage from Mobility Moves

Zeraora's mobility skills are not just movement skills. Volt Switch deals damage so using it in melee range can be helpful in a pinch if you're needing damage and attack speed. On the other hand, Spark can home in on targets if a standard attack is used while in the air. Use this to get in melee and auto attack range with your targets!

Invade Enemy Jungle Against Weaker Matchups

Lastly, you must know your jungle matchups. The jungle is not just a safe farming area; as a Jungler with high mobility, you can invade the enemy central area to get free kills and even steal their camp to deny them EXP! This is especially true when you learn Spark as you are extremely hard to catch with this skill but avoid doing this against stronger speedsters like Gengar!

Don't Hesitate to Use Unite Move

Not hesitating does not mean using it on Wild Pokemon.

As a Speedster and a Jungler, you gain access to free camps and easy goals. Every camp and goal reduces the cooldown of your Unite Move so don't hesitate to use it even in just one-on-one fights!

Zeraora Combos

Zeraora relies on his abilites and mobility to dish out tons of damage. Below are the bread and butter combos Zeraora can use for early game and his burst builds as well as his teamfighting build.

Early Game Combos

Step #	Move
1	Agility
2	Slash
This is Zeraora's bread and butter combo for clearing jungle camps as well as ganking lanes. Agility allows Zeraora to position near his targets and Slash damages and knocks the target up. If followed up, this can easily result in a kill in the early game.

Assassin Combo

Step #	Move
1	Volt Switch
2	Wild Charge
3	Volt Switch
This is your main assassination combo. Volt Switch is a double reposition ability that can make you jump on a location then return to your previous location when used again. Wild Charge deals a barrage of damage to a target and it deals more damage if used in sucession with Volt Switch. Dive in, assassinate a target, then jump back for a free kill.

Teamfight Combo

Step #	Move
1	Spark
2	Standard Attack
3	Discharge
4	Spark
5	Standard Attack
6	Spark
7	Standard Attack
This is Zeraora's full combo for his teamfighting skill. Using Auto attacks between Spark is crucial as it allows you to home in on your targets more easily. After your first Spark-> Auto combo, use Discharge then continue using the rest of your Sparks to stick to your targets (or hop around the battle field to spread damage).

Unite Combo 1

Step #	Move
1	Spark
2	Discharge
3	Plasma Gale
This is a quick combo that makes you home in on your target. After hopping in with Discharge, follow up wih Plasma Gale for huge burst AOE damage. If landed properly, this can win you against grouped up enemies alone.

Unite Combo 2

Step #	Move
1	Volt Switch
2	Wild Charge
3	Plasma Gale
4	Volt Switch
A quick in and out burst combo against a grouped enemy. This requires a fast execution as taking too long may cause Volt Switch's duration to run out leaving you standing in the enemy ranks if they survive your burst.

Zeraora Matchups and Best Counters

All Zeraora Matchups

Hard Counters
Fair
Easy

Matchup and Counter Explanations

Best Counters for Zeraora

Pokemon	Explanation
Snorlax	Snorlax deserves a whole tier of difficult for Zeraora due to how much he counters you. He provides knock ups to allow his allies to kill you and you will have zero damage against him so you won't be able to stop him from disrupting you. The worst part is his shield can cancel all your dashes and stun you at the same time! Stay away from Snorlax at all cost.
Slowbro	Similar case with Snorlax but more tame. Slowbro can perma stun you with his Telekinesis, Surf (worse if leveld up) and his Unite Move. If you get caught by Slowbro, wish that your allies will be there to save you.
Machamp	Machamp can outpace all your mobilityskills with his Submission + Crosschop combo. To make matters worse, his dueling power is stronger than you and he can decide to do it or not due to his superior mobility.
Crustle	Crustle is a defender that can switch to offense. If you're up against Crustle, wait until he uses Shell Smash before attempting to burst him as his defenses are lower at this state. If he doesn't have Shell Smash, your best bet is to avoid him in fights since he doesn't have heavy disrupting tools like Snorlax and Slowbrow.

Fair Matchup Explanations

Pokemon	Explanation
Gengar	A fair skill matchup. Gengar requires to land his initial skill to be able to contest Zeraora but if he successfully does, he'll be able to take you down. A silver lining that pushes the advantage to you is you become relevant in the game earlier (level 6) than Gengra (level 7).
Venusaur	Venusaur is the only attacker that can cause trouble to you without much assistance from allies. Venusaur's hp gain and DPS (damage per second) is too high with petaldance and he can easily run away / chase you down if needed. He is still more fragile than defenders so this is more a skill matchup than a counter matchup.
Garchomp	Garchomp is a tanky damage dealer that can duel with Zeraora with ease if leveled up properly. Zeraora is more mobile so you can easily get in and out of fights against garchomp.
Absol	Absol hits harder than you but he is much easier to kill due to his durability. This is a contest on who can use their damage first.
Talonflame	You both possess high damage output so the matchup turns to "who can catch the enemy" first. Talonflame can also learn fly to avoid your burst so be wary of approaching Talonflame without checking what skills he has learned.
Lucario	Another skill matchup that is edging near a hardcounter matchup. Lucario can't be bursted down by your combos thanks to its passive and it also has tons of mobility to catch up with you. Your Silverlining is you can also do the same things to him since you can duel with him and avoid his burst via Discharge/wild Charge.
Eldegoss	Eldegoss by himself is an easy matchup but a good Eldegoss will stick to his allies and provide support. It can prevent you from bursting down otherwise squishy targets but you still possess high damage to burst through them.

Easy Matchup Explanations

Pokemon	Explanation
Pikachu	Learn Wild charge and Volt Switch and keep diving him until he reaches critical HP or falls to your attacks.
Cinderace	Similar to Pikachu but extending a little bit deeper may be necessary as Cinderace have mobility skills to get away from Zeraora's range.
Charizard	Charizard is a weaker all-rounder and he loses to Zeraora anytime of the day.
Alolan Ninetales	Ninetails have zero mobility and his main survival tool are walls and knockbacks which Zeraora can freely ignore.
Greninja	A discharge build can easily shut down Greninja and his clones.
Cramorant	Zero escape tool and its skills require a long duration to execute. One of Zeraora's easiest matchups.
Mr. Mime	Same with the wall problem from Ninetails but is more durable. Mr. Mime lacks damage though so you can just stay on top of him and auto attack him to death.
Wigglytuff	Wigglytuff poses its greatest threat at the early levels but you're in the jungle so you completely skip this phase. Its knock ups are easy to dodge with Wild Charge or any of Zeraora's skills.

How to Counter Zeraora

Use Disabling Moves

Zeraora is a speedster and its main survival tools are dashing out of harm's way, using discharge to shield attacks, or Wildcharge to dodge skills. Prevent him from moving and he shall fall easily.

Have a Snorlax on your team

Snorlax deserves a different counter tier than the rest of the roster due to its barrier's interaction to all of Zeraora's skills. It can block everything Zeraora has and stun him for a long while. If you have a Snorlax on your team, make sure to communicate and have him be on top of Zeraora at all times!

Dodge its initial burst

Zeraora's burst is huge but its damage after dropping both skills are quite low. Evading its attacks using a dash skill or an Eject button can shut down Zeraora's damage for a short while.

Zeraora Moves and Ability

Zeraora Moves

Level	Move 1 (R)	Move 2 (ZR)
1 or 3
6
8
10

Move Slot 1 (R)

Agility (Lv. 1 or 3)	Move Type: Dash Damage Type: Status Cooldown: 6s
Has the user perform a quick dash and increases the user's basic attack speed for a short time afterward.
Spark (Lv. 6) Upgrade Lv. 12	Move Type: Dash Damage Type: Physical Cooldown: 10s Total Damage: 819 (Lv. 6) / 1545 (Lv. 15)
Has the user leap at an opposing Pokemon while electrically charged, dealing damage to them. If the user uses its basic attack before reaching its target Pokemon, the user will instead leap at the closest opposing Pokemon, dealing damage to it. This move can be used three times before it goes on cooldown. Upgrade: Also restores the user's HP if the user performs a basic attack before reaching its target Pokemon.
Volt Switch (Lv. 6) Upgrade Lv. 12	Move Type: Dash Damage Type: Physical Cooldown: 8s Total Damage: 726 (Lv. 6) / 1244 (1500) (Lv. 15)
Has the user perform a high-speed dash, dealing damage to any opposing Pokemon it hits and increasing the user's basic attack speed for a short time. Using this move again within a set period of time will allows the user to immediately dash back to where it originally used the move. Upgrade: Increases this move's damage and the amount of time increased basic attack speed lasts.

Move Slot 2 (ZR)

Slash (Lv. 1 or 3)	Move Type: Melee Damage Type: Physical Cooldown: 8.5s Total Damage: 972 (Lv. 3)
Has the user pounce at an opposing Pokemon and attack with sharp claws. This move's final attack throws opposing Pokemon.
Wild Charge (Lv. 8) Upgrade Lv. 14	Move Type: Melee Damage Type: Physical Cooldown: 12s Total Damage: 1921 (Lv. 8) / 3103 (Lv. 15)
Has the user charge in the designated direction. If this move hits an opposing Pokemon, the user unleashes a combo attack that also deals a set amount of damage to itself. If the user hits an opposing Pokemon with Volt Switch, Spark, or a boosted Attack before using this move, the number of attacks in the combo is increased. Upgrade: This move also deals damage to nearby opposing Pokemon when it hits.
Discharge (Lv. 8) Upgrade Lv. 14	Move Type: Melee Damage Type: Physical Cooldown: 12s Total Damage: 2320 (Lv. 8) / 3608 (Lv. 15)
Releases an electrical discharge, dealing damage to nearby opposing Pokemon and granting the user a shield when it hits. If this move hits opposing Pokemon that are paralyzed, it pulls them in toward the user once the move ends, dealing damage to them once again and leaving them unable to act. Upgrade: Also decreases the movement speed of opposing Pokemon for a short time when this move hits.

Unite Moves (ZL)

Plasma Gale (Lv. 10)	Move Type: Sure Hit Damage Type: Physical Cooldown: Percent Based Total Damage: 1967 (Lv. 10) / 2819 (Lv. 15)
Unleashes a blast of lightning, dealing damage to opposing Pokemon in the area of effect and throwing them. This also creates a zone of plasma that increases the user's basic attack range and damage dealt while the user is inside the zone.

Standard Attack

Standard Attack	Becomes a boosted attack with every third attack, dealing increased damage when it hits. Also paralyzes opposing Pokemon and restores the user's HP.

Ability (Passive)

Volt Absorb	The Pokemon gains an electric charge whenever it receives damage, converting a portion of that damage into additional Attack.

Zeraora Skins (Holowear)

List of All Skins: Fashion and Holowear

How to Get Zeraora

Get Unite License From Your Mail

1	Enlarge Open the Mail You can claim Zeraora from a message in your mailbox if you download it by the time period above. Press X in the main menu and scroll down to find your mail.
2	Enlarge Open the Bonus Message You can open the message with the topic Launch Bonus and find the Unite License for Zeraora in it. Press A to claim the license.

Zeraora Release Date

Zeraora is available as of July 21, 2021 alongside the Nintendo Switch version of the game. The availability period for Zeraora is limited, so be sure to claim it while it is still available.

Zeraora Availability Period

To receive the Unite license for Zeraora after the end of this promotional campaign, players will need to complete special missions (scheduled to be implemented at a future date).

How to Get Zeraora for Mobile

There will be a way for mobile players to get Zeraora despite missing the availability period listed above due to the mobile version not being released. We will update as soon as more information comes out!

Pokemon UNITE Related Guides

List of All Pokemon and Builds

Pokemon by Role

All Pokemon Roles
Attackers		All-Rounders		Defenders
Speedsters			Supporters

All Pokemon Guides and Builds

Pokemon Roster
Pikachu	Charizard	Snorlax	Crustle
Greninja	Eldegoss	Talonflame	Lucario
Venusaur	Mr. Mime	Slowbro	Absol
Machamp	Wigglytuff	Alolan Ninetales	Cramorant
Gengar	Garchomp	Cinderace	Zeraora
Blastoise	Gardevoir	-	-